Member Feature: Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired

Staff at the Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired often use Community Car to visit clients and bring vision assistance products into their homes, but loading the products into the cars was sometimes difficult. To ease the logistics, the Council offered a parking space to Community Car and we were glad to relocate Nolen to 754 Williamson in May.

The Council serves Wisconsin citizens who are blind or visually impaired by providing vision services, legislative advocacy, and public education. In a Community Car, Virginia DeBlaey and Sue Small visit people who are losing their sight as a result of macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy. Sue accompanies Virginia, a vision rehabilitation teacher, because Virginia has been blind since birth.

Virginia draws from her wealth of personal and professional experience and helps her clients understand their condition, assesses their living situation, and recommends appropriate services and adaptive equipment. She might recommend applying tactile dots to appliances, buying magnification equipment, or accessing audio books through the National Library Service.